Jealousy
by Without A Box
Summary: Admire from afar. That was the best way. The only way. - Karen is jealous. And she can't help it.  Matt/Karen - my first real life characters fic. Please be nice, harhar;   a review or two would be lush. Rating might change.
1. Chapter 1

This entire work is dedicated to Bianca. Without her, and Will Young, this would not have happened.

When you read this, I entirely suggest you listen to Jealousy (Acoustic) by Will Young. That's what this is based on.

These aren't separate chapters as such, I just wanted to break it up in case it got really long.

And be nice, this was written at 2-3 in the morning.

So enjoy.

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><p>Karen woke in a fluster.<p>

_She was late. Again._

It took her three minutes to throw on something from her wardrobe. Bypassing the bathroom, she continued in her rush.

She ghosted through her apartment, dodging the clutter that had come to nestle in every available space. Her eyes stung from the bright light that poured in through an open curtain. Nothing was straight in her head, the thoughts were incoherent. As they were every morning, it seemed.

"Oh god." She groaned, catching sight of her unruly hair in the mirror as her fingers brushed over the table for her car keys. Not bothering with a usual swipe of mascara, she coaxed her hair into a messy ponytail. Random strands flew out, creating a slightly insane look. Karen felt insane right about now, the look was fitting.

_Where's my phone?_

_What's the time? Oh god, is it really? Steven will murder me._

_**What am I doing?**_

An exasperated sigh escaped her, echoing around her apartment. The way the sound bounced off the white-washed walls shocked her a little. Did she really sound that fed up all the time?

"Pull yourself together Karen." She ordered her reflection. The girl that stared back, she didn't recognise. In the mirror she could see the coffee table, sitting awkwardly in the middle of a cluttered room. She preferred to keep the table clear, far preferring to leave things on the floor. A single photo frame, deep red, leather, rectangular, was all that sat on the table. Fingerprints adorned the edges of the table, but none came within half a foot of the frame.

Admire from afar. It's the best way. The _only_ way.

In the temporary distraction, she hadn't noticed the small white rectangle vibrating furiously inches from her left hand. The glare of the screen didn't help with the sudden headache she'd developed. It was a text. Karen probably had several, but she couldn't say she'd paid them any attention.

_Text from: Matt _

_Sent at: 9:23 am_

_**Where are you Kaz?x**_

Feeling a not unwelcome buzz, Karen reached for her scarf, slipping on her shoes. Her phone and car keys in her right hand, house key in the other, hair pulled back, woolly scarf wrapped firmly around her neck, Karen was ready –_well, as ready as she could be. _Without a fleeting glance back, she strode out of the apartment. The door, covered in green, peeling paint, slammed behind her.

From the frame on the table, a picture of Matt and her on their first day together – _her favourite picture of them _- stared out at the empty apartment.

The cold Cardiff air bit at her cheeks as Karen made her way to her car. It was 9:36 now. An hour late. Karen supposed it was better than yesterday, when she'd been nearly three hours late. Nobody had particularly expected her to be late; nobody had cared to ask why. Apart from Matt.

_Obviously_.

She'd shrugged it off as a late night. That bit was true. What she didn't allow him to know was she'd spent the night battling her emotions. At roughly three am that morning, the picture frame's place had been threatened. Karen found it impossible to look into Matt's eyes for more than five seconds without the feelings creeping up on her. They made her spine tingle with electricity, billions of volts through her every second.

_No._

_Stop it._

Her heartbeat was manic in her chest, pushing out against her ribs. Karen shook her head, stuffing her longs legs into her car that only seemed to get smaller by the day.

_9:38._

It was a twenty minute drive to location. Twenty minutes Karen. Hold yourself together for twenty minutes.

The engine purred into life after she'd turned the key in the ignition. Everything sparked into existence, including the radio. A far too happy voice for a Tuesday (was it Tuesday?) morning filled her ears.

"Will Young now with his new single _'Jealousy_'"

Karen wanted to slam her head against the steering wheel. Today, she'd decided, was going to be one of those days.

She tried her best to ignore the melody that resonated from the speakers embedded in the car door, whilst manoeuvring out of the car park. Trust her to choose the apartment building with the ridiculously awkward car park. The radio seemed to blare louder, even if she turned the volume down, interrupting whatever thoughts she'd had. Her car had been the only one left, sitting in one of the central spaces. Everyone else, she presumed, had managed to wake up on time.

That's probably because they weren't up all night worrying about a certain Northamptonian and his girlfriend.

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><p>So, hey.<p>

What did you think?


	2. Chapter 2

Well hey. This is fun to write, and it's giving me less of a headache than Science&Faith. I'll get back to that soon, I promise! Warning, these 'chapters' are going to be short. And they switch view point, if it's a view point when it's in the third person? Enjoy it. Tell me what you think. I'll love you forever.

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><p>By the time she'd reached the traffic lights at the end of the road, Karen had had more than enough of Will Young. Fumbling for the volume, she turned it right down. Now the only sound was the engine, loud and impatient.<p>

_9:42. _

The rest of the journey was relatively simple. No more songs. No more inappropriate thoughts. Just lines. Lines of insignificance than happened to escape her character's mouth in the coming episode. Lines that happened to be spoken to a certain other character.

Karen bit her lip.

_Why me?_

A stubborn (_slightly pathetic_) silence loomed over her for the remainder of her journey. Beside her, Karen's phone was going slightly mental. She'd been counting. Eleven text messages in the last five minutes. It amazed her how her phone hadn't blown up yet. Karen new they were designed to handle text messages and phone calls, but the frankly alarming rate at which the phone vibrated in the cup holder had her doubting.

Without even risking a glance at the illuminated screen, Karen knew exactly who the messages were from. Instead of dwelling on the thought, she shoved it to the back of her head. Today was going to be nice, easy day. Even if it meant she had to murder someone first.

_I am not letting you do this to me_.

_Where the hell are you Kaz?_

Matt, already in costume, had long since given up trying to be calm. This was the second day in a row Karen had been late. Granted, her excuse of a late night could be perfectly legitimate. But he knew her. Two days in a row? Something was wrong. And she wasn't telling him what. They'd instilled total trust in one another. It almost hurt to think that there was something Karen wasn't telling him. Something important, judging by the fact that she was an hour and twenty four minutes late.

"Matt!" Arthur wandered across the set, a smudge of ketchup from his breakfast that he'd missed still on the corner of his mouth.

"You haven't seen Kaz, have you?" He tried to downplay the worry in his voice. All he needed was Arthur noticing his over-concern. He was certain Daisy had figured him out last night after he'd found it impossible not to talk about how worried he was. She hadn't spoken to him since then.

He couldn't truthfully say he was bothered.

"She's outside."

_Thank god for that one_.

"Doesn't look in the best mood. One of those days." Arthur said the last sentence like it explained everything.

Frustratingly to Matt, it didn't.

_You have 13 unread text messages_.

Tempted to get back in her car and sit reading them for the rest of the day, Karen began to mentally prepare herself. She'd spotted Arthur lingering, then disappear into the building when he noticed her. Did Karen really look that ready to rip someone's head off?

Apparently, yes.

He'd probably gone to warn Matt she didn't look very happy. The entire mood would evaporate upon seeing him, and he'd wonder if Arthur was lying. This routine seemed to become commonplace. Horrifically moody until Matt shows up. Then feel better until he goes away again.

_Karen, you need to sort your life out. Stop. Just stop. Think about it. __**He has a girlfriend**_**. **_**And it'**__**s not you.**_

Something began to burn deep inside Karen's chest. A burn that caressed her heart, wrapping around it, fuelling it. A burn that crept lazily into her mind, eating its way into all her thoughts.

The emotion was not a foreign one to Karen.

Or Matt, if he really thought about it.

_Jealousy_.

Matt, knowing that Karen was only moments away, wiped the last text before he could send it, shoving his phone back into his pocket.

_I need to talk to you Kaz, It's serious._

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><p>To answer questions: This isn't going to be an angsty fic. Or I hope it isn't. Knowing me, it probably will be. So sorry about that one!<p>

And the picture in the frame? I'm not sure if there's an official first picture or something, but Bianca showed me this one, and this is the one I'm talking about: mattandkaz(dot)tumblr(dot)com(slash)post(slash)9288869454

And HEY GUISE. I passed 90 review on _Science&Faith_. It would be wonderful if I could get some lovely people from over there reviewing this? I plan to include a link in every chapter of it, so sorry if you read that one too! :L If you don't, give it a try? There's a link on my profile;)

As always, the painfully bad Matt/Karen shipper,

**Maddie xx**


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